Rufinamide is an anticonvulsant medication. It has been used in combination with other medication and therapy to treat Lennox-Gastaut spasms and various other seizure disorders. Rufinamide, a triazole derivative, was developed in 2004 by Novartis Pharma, AG, and is manufactured by Eisai. The chemical name for rufinamide is 1-(2,6-difluorobenzyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazole-4-carboxamide (formula I), and it is represented by the following structure.

Rufinamide was first described in U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,680. The synthetic method employed is depicted in the following reaction Scheme 1.
2,6-difluorobenzylchloride of formula II and sodium azide are reacted in the presence of DMSO to obtain 2-(azidomethyl)-1,3-difluorobenzene of formula III, which is then treated with 2-propiolic acid to give a carboxylic acid intermediate which on further reaction with methanol in the presence of sulfuric acid yields methyl 1-(2,6-difluorobenzyl)-1H-1,2,3-triazole-4-carboxylate intermediate of formula IV. This intermediate is then isolated and further reacted with methanolic ammonia to yield rufinamide of formula I.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,789,680 also discloses the preparation of rufinamide by reacting 2,6-difluorobenzyl azide of formula III with propiolic acid to give the corresponding carboxylic acid intermediate which is then treated with thionyl chloride and subsequently with ammonia to obtain rufinamide.
WO 1998/002423 discloses a process for preparation of rufinamide which involves reacting 2,6-difluorobenzylazide with 2-chloroacrylonitrile.
The synthesis of rufinamide described in the earlier processes involves the isolation of intermediates at each step, and then subjection of the isolated intermediates to new reagents which require different conditions, solvents, temperature, etc. Due to the multistep extractive workup procedures, there is an increase in the processing time period along with an increase in the usage of solvent. Such discontinuous processes lead to lower yield, as product is lost during each isolation step and increases the effluent load. Further, the synthesis described in the prior art involves the use of environmentally unfriendly organic solvents. It is therefore evident that there is a need for an alternative process for synthesizing rufinamide which avoids multiple isolation steps, the use of multiple reaction vessels and the use of organic solvent, and which results in a high yield.